Morocco Proposes Cemetery Police Force, Sparking Funeral Industry Backlash

These local authority specifications now give the green light to companies to manage funeral services in the cities of Casablanca and Marrakech. Faced with this affront, the unions have responded by accusing this measure of a disguised "privatization" of the sector, which is far from convincing.

The other new development that is grating is the creation of a police force to ensure the "proper management of the city’s cemeteries" as well as burial ceremonies. According to leseco.ma, this mission will be entrusted to the Local Development Company (SDL), Casa Prestations. As for the certification of deaths, it will be entrusted to private doctors, given the shortage of medical personnel.

Faced with this new situation, Mohamed Lamhamdi, director of the National Union of Assistance and Funeral Services, expressed concern about the repercussions of this decision, which he considers "unfair and unilateral" for this sector, which now has 3,000 funeral homes in Morocco.